No one could accuse James Haskell of lacking passion when it comes to pulling on an England shirt.
Haskell, who told ESPN last month that he would fight to play one more Test, is aware that time may well be ticking on his Test career -- he even reveals that Eddie Jones jokes that he keeps a laminated copy of his P45 handy, "ready to be given to me".
It is not a surprise, therefore, that he was "super excited" to be asked by the England coach to train with the squad while serving the suspension that kept him out of the opening two rounds of the Six Nations. And now that he is back with the group for real, he is determined not to put to his place in jeopardy again.
"Eddie knows how much I love playing for England and we have talked a lot about that," he says. "He is very supportive and he knows how much I care, I have never felt he needs remind me. He knows he just has to tell me to jump and I say how high and we just get on with it."
The flanker, 32, was forced to watch on as Chris Robshaw, Sam Simmonds, Sam Underhill and Courtney Lawes laid claim to a back-row berth while he was kicking his heels on the sidelines.
Uncertainty over his club future has not helped ease nagging fears that a place at the 2019 Rugby World Cup could be beyond him. Haskell will leave Wasps at the end of the season, and while his destination remains undecided his priority is to find another Aviva Premiership club.
England's selection policy dictates that a move abroad again -- Haskell has played club rugby in France, Japan and New Zealand -- would spell the end in international terms. He insists that money was not a defining factor in Wasps' decision to let him leave the Ricoh Arena, "there was no discussion of anything," he says.
On the contrary, Haskell's desire to represent his country in Japan is such that he would be happy to take a pay cut in order to keep his dream alive.
"100 percent," he says when asked if he would accept a smaller contract to stay in England. "You have to look at what is important to you, what your priorities are, and my priority is to try to be in this England squad.
"Going towards a World Cup in Japan under Eddie Jones would essentially be a dream come true. A massive challenge, but there would be a big pot of gold at the end of that rainbow.
"But so much to go, so much competition but you've just got to put yourself in the best position. So when you finish you can look back and say that you've sacrificed certain things to get what you want."
Haskell played at both of the previous two World Cups, in 2011 and 2015, but neither were successful from an individual or collective perspective. England suffered a quarterfinal exit amid salacious headlines in New Zealand, while they failed to make it past the pool stage on home soil four years later.
But the 75-cap back row, who is back in contention for his country's trip to Murrayfield next weekend, is not fired by regret.
"It is more just the desire to go and play in another one under Eddie," he says. "Because I believe [we] have got the opportunity to go there and do something special rather than look back and avenge wrongs and things like that.
"If you live your life like that it's not a great place to be, really."
Haskell adds: "I've made peace with the fact that it is going to end at some point. I still believe that I've got a lot of give.
"Ideal scenario is you do as Richie McCaw, Ma'a Nonu and Dan Carter did, win a World Cup and finish on your own terms. How many players get to do that? Very few."